secretary panetta stressed the u.s. and during presence -- enduring presence will be based on missions like counterterrorism, advising afghan forces, and providing important enabling capabilities. we would like to hear about the pace of the drawdown of u.s. forces from the current 68,000 true colonial -- troop level to the level of our enduring forces after 2014. we expect a steady pace as the president said, or you anticipate the pace remaining at 68,000 through next year's fighting season and dropping rapidly some time thereafter. finally, the united states and afghanistan have begun an agreement as required by the bilateral enduring strategic initiative. they will provide necessary protections for u.s. troops deployed to afghanistan after 2014, and we have been interested in your thoughts on the importance in signalling to afghanistan and its neighbors that the u.s.-afghanistan partnership will be an enduring contribution to regional stability, and we will address what you see as the u.s. red lines in those negotiati